I do not own Neon Genesis Evangelion or any of its characters.
Ich besitze nicht Evangelion oder irgendwelche der seiner Leute.
私は 新世紀エヴァンゲリオンを所有しないまたはそれは人々である。
(Pardon those terrible translations, if you even care that much to check.)
Wow, 100 reviews! Thank you to everyone who has kept reading thus far, and thank you for the reviews! It's always nice to know that people are interested in your work.
Yay, finally writing again! Once again work has been murder (Hey Management, remember when I checked the part-time box on the application? I wasn't just kidding around!), but I really felt like writing again because I really want to see this fic finished. This was going to be the second to last chapter, but as with chapters 6 and 7, I found myself having to split it since it was getting way too long to be a single chapter. So lease forgive me if this chapter feels kind of incomplete. Looks like we're going to be going for a total of eleven now, but don't expect it to get stretched out any longer than that. And to think that my original goal was seven to eight chapters!
My original plans for an epilogue are kind of on ice right now, since I already know I'll be getting more than 10 chapters out of this fic already. I might still do one sometime down the road, but I can't make any promises at this point.
But I mustn't get ahead of myself. My current priority is to get this fic finished. Now without further delay, chapter 9!
Humans weren't meant to float
By GeekViking86
Chapter 9 – Food, Dancing, and B Movie Kings
There's that state of mind that exists that people experience sometimes while they're asleep-- where they're somewhere between unconsciousness and being awake. For some, the mind wakes up, but the body does not, and the result is a night terror. For others, the body is awake while the mind slumbers, which manifests as sleepwalking. And then there is that one un-common state, where the body and mind are both teetering on the edge of consciousness in nearly equal proportions.
For Asuka, she'd experienced them all at one point or another. Tonight, it had been two out of three, and while a night terror was not among them, she did remember having a rather un-setting dream about herself at some point.
Her eyelids had ever so slightly lifted themselves from her blue orbs, and she could feel a warm presence beneath her. There was a familiar scent, and she remembered that it belonged to that baka—
No—My baka…
Her face was nuzzled against his shoulder, and he simply slept contently while she used him like a big pillow.
She could tell that Shinji's arm was around her shoulder and that they were cuddling, but she greatly enjoyed this sensation… It was almost as if Shinji was determined not to let anything bad happen to her during the night, and yet at the same time, she was protecting him as well. I don't care if he's not very strong…I won't let anything happen to my Shin-chan. She mused groggily.
It just felt so—right. But perhaps that's what concerned her… Her mind was half shut off making her perceive it all as a dream, but being this close to Shinji actually started to make her worry when she started piecing these feelings together.
This is what I wanted, but I'm not ready yet. I can't do this, there's still so much I need to tell you… I'm sorry Shinji, but this will have to wait.
She slowly shifted her weight out of the bed and wandered back to her own room, where she slipped back into the depths of sleep in the comfort of her own bed. The next morning when she awoke, everything seemed to be in the same order as when she went to bed.
"Strange dream…" she groaned, in an attempt to firmly establish the previous night's happenings as a figment of her imagination.
She yawned and stretched her stiff muscles, but then a small smile tugged at the corners of her lips as she lay back onto her bed.
"Hmm… Shinji…" She whispered sweetly to no one, and decided she would spend the rest of the morning in a far more pleasant mood than usual.
Friday…
"Nah, I wouldn't drag you to a chick flick, they're not really my thing." Asuka said to Shinji, who felt very relieved that the girl's movie preference might be more gender-neutral than he'd expected.
"Well then… What movie did you pick?" he asked curiously, to which Asuka made a very excited grin.
"It's a black comedy called 'Bollish'." She said with a grin. Shinji only showed a look of confusion, which told Asuka that an explanation was in order.
"Okay… Do you know who Uwe Boll is?"
"Um… Can't say I do, but the name does ring a bell."
"He was a horrible German B-movie director who was among the first people to start pumping out movies after Second Impact. And, he found a loophole in Germany's tax system that ensured he'd come out of every movie with a profit no matter how awful it was, at the taxpayers' expense." The redhead explained with a keen grin.
"Oh yeah… I remember now. Pretty much all of his moves were based on videogames, right?"
"Yup. Anyway, the movie is a satirical look at his career, and the name comes from the term his anti-fans gave to his eccentric way of speaking. It's been getting great reviews, which is kind of ironic since 'Toilet Boll's' movies were some of the worst reviewed ever!" Asuka let out a snicker, and Shinji joined.
"Sounds interesting." Shinji said, and glanced at the clock briefly.
"Hey, I think we better get ready. We've only got about 90 minutes before we're supposed to go meet Toji and Hikari, right?" He asked while getting up from his seat.
Asuka checked the time as well, and suddenly jumped to her feet.
"Ack! I need to get dressed!" She huffed with a flurry as she ran for her room, and then Shinji went to his.
Shinji's choice of clothes wasn't anything particularly elaborate, but it was still notably more upscale than what he'd normally wear. It was a basic pair of khaki pants and a blue silk shirt, with a dark gray suit jacket over top. Shinji had originally been hesitant about the jacket, but Asuka talked him into it and informed him that Hikari would make sure Toji wore one as well. He looked himself over in the mirror and smiled. Eh, I still feel a little awkward, but if Asuka thinks it looks good, I'm happy with it.
Before he left his room, he made sure not to forget the gift that had remained safely hidden under his bed for two weeks, away from Asuka's prying eyes. He slipped the cardboard box out from under his bed, fished out the narrow gift-wrapped package, and dropped it into his coat's inner pocket. He then returned to the living room with a pleased smile.
He looked up at the clock again. Hmm… Why do girls always take so long? He wondered as he began tapping his foot. After a few minutes, he decided to make a quick stop at the bathroom and run some gel through his hair. Usually he'd just pull his hair away from his forehead, but tonight he felt like putting in a little more effort.
"Gott im Himmel! What's with these zippers!" Asuka fumed from behind her door, followed by another string of curses in mixed languages. Shinji decided that his hair looked good enough, and headed back to the living room to wait on the couch.
A minute or two later, he heard Asuka's door open, and she strolled elegantly into view… And it took every muscle in Shinji's jaw to keep it from going slack.
"Tada! What do you think Shin-chan?" She asked, and it took Shinji a moment to respond.
She looked stunning. It was a beautiful dark red dress, with a low-cut top that in showed a decent amount of cleavage, and left Asuka's back and much of her shoulders bare save for where the fabric tied together to form straps. Also, her silky hair was completely undone and flowing freely.
"Wow… I feel like I should be in a tux." Shinji mumbled as he grasped for something clever sounding to say.
"Hey, it's not like we're going as a couple! But still, you don't look so bad yourself." Asuka giggled, and nudged Shinji's shoulder with her fist.
Shinji decided now was as good a time as any to finally give Asuka the gift that he'd been waiting for two weeks to see on her.
"There is one thing that's missing though…" Shinji said as he reached into his coat.
Asuka's face lit up when she saw the package before her. Shinji only had to place it in her hand before she had torn away the paper and was opening the velvety case. When she saw what was inside, she placed a hand over her chest and took a step back.
"This is… Beautiful." She said softly.
It was a thin golden chain with a string of two red gems dangling from the middle, and she instantly knew that she loved it. She carefully removed it from the case, and her mind instantly thought of a perfect 'thank you' for a gift like this…
"Would you mind fastening it for me?" she smiled as she raised the two ends near her shoulders.
Shinji nodded shyly and stepped behind her. He gently brushed away Asuka's silky-soft strawberry hair with one hand, then took the two ends of the chain and clipped them together. He let the red strands glide back into place over Asuka's back, and they tickled his hands as he moved them away. Wow, twice in one week I've gotten to feel her hair… I must be doing something right… He grinned inwardly.
Asuka turned around to face Shinji, and let him see the necklace displayed on her. It complimented her neckline perfectly, with the chain resting near her collarbone, and the string of gems being just high enough that they didn't draw too much attention to her cleavage.
"Thank you Shinji, this is one of the nicest gifts I've gotten in a long time." She smiled, and then wrapped her arms around Shinji to pull him in for a hug. She then broke the friendly embrace, and turned her head over to Misato's office.
"Misato, we're gonna go out now!" she called. Misato's office door slid open, then the woman's arm reached out and began to wave in a stopping gesture.
"Hang on a sec, I wanna get a look at you two first!" she called, and came rushing out to give her two charges a once-over, who noticed that she had brought her digital camera.
She had dreamy eyes and a smile on her face when she looked them over, and couldn't help but let out a proud sigh.
"Look at you two, you look so grown up! I almost wanna give you a squeeze!" Clearly the 'almost' was a lie, as Misato wrapped her arms around the shoulders of her kids and gave them a tight, playful embrace.
"Gah! Misato!" they shouted in unison, and Misato gave out a teasing laugh.
"Now let me take a picture of you two!" she said, and then Shinji and Asuka stood side by side, putting on picture smiles. "Come on now, you can try to look a little friendlier than this! Asuka, put your arm around Shinji!"
"No!" Asuka objected, and Shinji made a failed attempt not to look embarrassed.
"Come on, it's not like you've never hugged Shinji before." Misato said while rolling her eyes.
Asuka realized that she didn't have an excuse to avoid touching Shinji, since in truth she enjoyed it. Until now Asuka had avoided leaving a photographic record of their touchy-feely friendship, but when she gave it a second thought, she didn't really see the harm in one photograph. Also, it was fairly apparent that Misato wouldn't stop bugging her until she got the pose she wanted. She reached around Shinji's back and wrapped her fingers around his elbow in a friendly manner, and gave the camera a genuine smile.
"Now that's more like it." Misato approved, and then snapped the shot. "So, do you have your cell-phones?"
The two teens nodded, and Asuka picked up and dangled her handbag to indicate the location of hers.
"Okay then! Remember, call me when you get to the theater and leave, then make sure to call ever hour after that, got it?" Misato said in a serious tone.
"Yes ma'am!" Shinji blurted, and Misato laughed.
"I'm not your CO! But thank you anyways." She smiled. "So do you want a ride to the train station?"
"Nah, we can walk." Said Asuka.
"Well then have fun. I'll see you at 10."
Misato waved goodbye as the pair of teens left the house. It didn't take long for Shinji's jacket to start bothering him though—especially since the house hadn't offered much relief lately with it's broken air conditioner.
"Dang, it's hot out here! Do I have to wear this jacket all night?" he asked.
"They'll have air conditioning on the train, but I guess you can just carry it for now."
Shinji sighed with relief as he slid the jacket off and slung it over his shoulder.
As Shinji and Asuka approached the movie theater, they saw Hikari and Toji sitting on a bench holding hands. Hikari was wearing the famous 'little black dress' that Shinji had heard so much about, and tonight actually chose let her shoulder-length brunette hair free for once, which coupled with the dress made her look much more lady-like and feminine than usual. Toji was wearing gray button up shirt and a pair of black slacks, which had a matching jacket that like Shinji, he only held due to the heat.
They were giggling silly nonsense to each other while their fingers interlocked, when Hikari noticed Shinji and Asuka coming, and got up to greet them.
"Asuka! Happy birthday!" she said as she embraced her friend, and they kissed each other's cheeks.
"Hikari!" Asuka squealed, and they stepped back to examine each other's outfits. "You look beautiful tonight, I love your dress!"
"Thank you." A flattered Hikari said. "I love yours too. You look like a movie star!"
"Thanks! Maybe if I see a red carpet, I'll sign some autographs." Joked Asuka. Hikari's eyes then traveled to Asuka's neck, and noticed that she was wearing the necklace she'd helped Shinji select two weeks prior.
"Hey, that's a lovely necklace. Is it new?" She asked, already knowing full well where it came from.
"Yup, it was a gift from my little Shinji-kun." Asuka said as she grabbed Shinji, who at the time was pre-occupied with greeting Toji, by the arm and pulled him in for a playful hug from behind.
Wow… Did she just hug Shinji in public? Maybe this will be easier than I thought… Hikari hopefully considered in silence.
"Oh, hello Hikari." Shinji said as he turned his neck, with an embarrassed tint on his cheeks.
"Now, who's ready for some serious Boll busting action?" Asuka asked with a goofy look on her face, and then realized that her Japanese-speaking friends weren't going to get it. "Eh, let's just go get our seats."
The rest of the group agreed, and within minutes they'd claimed their tickets and were seated in the auditorium, waiting for the film to start.
----------------------------------------------------
Rippling waves of light danced around the bathroom walls as a plethora candles reflected from the water in the tub, but the display failed to keep Misato's attention. While she very much enjoyed candlelight bathing whenever she could do it, tonight it just didn't seem to be doing the trick. The soothing combination of warm water, scented crystals, dimmed lights, and soft music wasn't helping much to distract her from the fact that she was bored.
She sighed as she glanced over at the clock, and noted that it was quarter after seven, meaning she should be expecting a call from Shinji in about fifteen minutes. Well, at least I don't have to bother with my clothes for another three hours, unless the kids come home early. She smirked as she sipped her beer.
'The kids' were growing up, and like it or not, Misato was going to have to get used to not having them around as much. Even though she'd managed to spend eight years of her life mostly alone, she'd grown very attached to her unconventional family unit ever since it had formed. Not being able to walk around the house naked whenever she wanted was a tiny price to pay compared to what she'd gained from their friendship and company.
It was hard for Misato to believe that she'd been soaking for little more than an hour, which was surely a testament to her current predicament. She felt almost helpless as she lay there watching the seconds tick by, and began thinking about what kind of fun Shinji and Asuka were probably having without her.
Someone above must have been listening to her cries for something to occupy her mind, for at that moment the phone began to ring. Misato perked up, and reached over the side of the tub to exchange her beer can for the phone.
"Hello?" She asked.
"Ah, good evening Misato!" a familiar young man's voice answered from the other end.
"Makoto! It's good to hear from you!" Misato chimed at the sound of her former subordinate as she re-positioned herself in the bath.
"Um, are you busy right now? Because I can call back later if…" Makoto started to ask nervously. He had probably heard the music and splashing water, which would likely be putting some awkward ideas into his head.
"No, it's fine. Please, go ahead!" she stated reassuringly.
"Uh… You like cars, right?" Makoto inquired.
"I'm crazy about them!" proclaimed Misato excitedly.
"Well, tonight there's this classic auto show in the city that I was planning on going to, and I was wondering if maybe…"
Misato's heart skipped a beat, but then sank when she remembered that she wanted to be home when Shinji and Asuka returned.
"I—I'd love to go with you, but the kids are out for Asuka's birthday, and…" Misato began to explain disappointedly.
"It's okay, I understand…" Makoto said with an empathetic, but let down tone.
Misato bit her lip tensely for a moment, as her mind thought things over. On the one hand, she had the new house rules to enforce, and if she wasn't home it could set a bad precedent. But on the other hand… If she couldn't trust Shinji and Asuka to come home on time without her as a witness, how would they ever get used to respecting her authority in her absence? If she could still trust them to go out alone, why couldn't she trust them to be alone in their own house? And it wasn't like she wasn't going to be checking up on them… Her mind ran over both sides of the argument as quickly as she could, because she didn't want to leave Makoto hanging for too long.
Misato really needed to get out of the house for a while, and hanging out with Makoto was exactly the kind of diversion she'd been wanting—especially if checking out sweet cars was involved. And really, why should she be the only one staying home on a Friday night? Finally, she made her decision.
"Ah, it's not a problem. Where do you want to meet?" she asked.
"The New Yokohama Public Exhibition Center." Makoto spoke with renewed zest. "Is quarter of eight okay with you?"
"Sure! I'll just put some clothes on and then I'll head over!" Misato noticed that there might have been a better way to phrase that, because even over the phone she could tell that Makoto was blushing.
"Uh-- yeah. See you there, Misato-san." He stammered before the call ended, and Misato let out a girly giggle as she splashed in the water playfully.
Hehe, I didn't even know Makoto was into cars. Who knows, maybe tonight we can get to know each other a little better? Misato wondered as she rose from the bath, allowing the water to run off her curvaceous body before blowing out the arrangement of candles around her.
She stepped out of the tub and pulled out the stopper, then grabbed the phone and her beer. She then slung a towel around her neck, but didn't bother covering up since she had the house all to herself. As she walked out the bathroom door, a smile played on her face when she saw the family pet sitting on the couch watching TV.
"Pen-Pen, Mommy's going out for a few hours, okay?" The penguin merely responded by raising a flipper, and so the nude woman headed toward her bedroom to get dressed and wait for Shinji's call.
Laugher… That's what could be heard from the quartet of Shinji, Asuka, Hikari, and Toji as they left the uptown movie theater.
The film was every bit as hilarious as Asuka had claimed it would be, and Shinji was glad she'd picked it instead of a forgettable chick movie. Shinji thought the movie felt kind of sleazy, and since Uwe Boll was hardly a model example of the German people, he was almost afraid to laugh with Asuka around… If not for her cackling voice filling the auditorium almost every time Boll spoke a line, which Shinji interpreted as 'Go ahead, it's funny!'
"Hahahah! 'Vhy can't you just take ze stupid bra off?'" Asuka quoted with her best impression of a male voice, to which her friends laughed.
"'No, ve don't need to do anozer take! It's not like ze dump audience vill notice!'" Toji paraphrased, and the laughter continued.
They walked to the curb, where Shinji pulled out his phone and hit his home number on speed dial.
"Hi Shinji-chan!" Misato greeted over the line.
"Hi Misato. We just got out of the theater, and we're heading for the restaurant."
"Okay! And Shinji, I'm going out and probably won't be back until late tonight, so I want you to call me from home as soon as you're back, okay?" the boy's guardian informed him.
"Okay, I'll make sure we don't forget."
"And remember, my phone has caller ID, so don't try anything sneaky like calling from your cell!" Misato half-jokingly warned.
"Don't worry. We'll be home by 10, and once we are we're staying there."
"Good boy! Make sure to give Asuka a birthday kiss for me, okay?" Misato teased, and hung up before Shinji could get in another word.
"What was that all about?" Asuka asked.
"Misato went out and says she'll be back late. She wants us to call her when we get home, nothing big." Shinji explained, and Asuka simply shrugged her shoulders.
"So, should we hail a cab?" Hikari asked as she straightened out her dress.
"Yeah, I could sure go for some grub!" Asuka grinned while rubbing her stomach.
Shinji waved his arm at an approaching taxi, and soon they were on their way.
After they had paid the driver and stepped out of the cab, Asuka looked up at the restaurant before them. The large illuminated sign above read 'Cucina del Giardino' in bold Romanji letters, with the Katakana version below it.
"'Kitchen of the Garden.' That's what the name means." Asuka proudly translated, much to the admiration of her friends.
There was a multi-sense aura that permeated from the building, and along with the strong smells of garlic, meat, and melting cheeses, Asuka could hear what sounded like live music coming from somewhere within, which made her wonder if the establishment's seating area was outdoors.
"Well what are we waiting for? Let's go in." Toji said as he took Hikari by the hand.
When they walked through the front doors a hostess behind the reception desk greeted them.
"Good evening! Do you have a reservation?" the young woman asked.
"Yes, it's under "Horaki"." Hikari told her.
The hostess thumbed through the clipboard before coming to Hikari's surname.
"Ah, here we are; table for four at seven forty-five." The woman said with a smile. "Please follow me."
The hostess led the four of them into the main dining area, where Asuka and Shinji were taken aback by the amazing layout. There was no roof overhead, giving it a great view of the round moon in the sky, along with the tall, illuminated buildings of New Yokohama. The place was designed to re-create the feeling of being at an outdoor restaurant in Italy with many beautiful plants decorating the place, just as the 'garden' in the name implied. There was also a large opening in the middle of the building that had a fountain in the center, and around it was the group of musicians Asuka had heard before, playing classical slow music. The rest of the open area was used as a dance floor for patrons.
The hostess seated them at their candle-lit table with Shinji next to Asuka and Hikari next to Toji, and then took orders for their beverages before handing out a set of menus.
"A waitress will be here with your drinks in a few minutes, so until then you can decide on your entrees, okay?" said the hostess, and then she left.
"So… I didn't know that this place had live entertainment." Shinji said with obvious interest, seeing as he was a classical music enthusiast. "I actually have this song on one of my SDAT tapes."
Asuka's eyes glanced around the room some more, and as she took in the ambiance and looked around at the other patrons, she noticed that they were mostly couples consisting of college students and people around Misato's age. It was no wonder, because there was something almost—romantic about the place.
Wait a minute, just what is happening here? Asuka's mind wondered, but before it could continue, she saw a menu tilted towards her by Shinji.
"I don't really know a lot about Italian food. What do you suggest?" Shinji asked her.
"Go with the veal parmigiana; it's delicious, and you need the protein. Besides, it comes with Ziti." Asuka said as she pointed at the menu. "Hmm, I think I'll get that too."
"Okay, if you say so." Shinji shrugged. The price was kind of expensive, but fortunately Hikari and Toji had agreed with him ahead of time that they'd be splitting the check three ways.
A waitress came to their area holding a platter with drinks, and then placed them on the table before them. She then took out a palm pilot and stylus and prepared for the orders.
"Good evening, my name is Miko! What can I get for you tonight?" she asked.
"We'll both have the veal parmigiana." Asuka stated while motioning at Shinji.
"The lasagna with Italian sausage." Said Toji.
"Shrimp scampi." Hikari finally requested, and then the waitress collected the menus from them.
"Your entrees should be ready in about half an hour, so you can feel free to use the dance floor." Miko told them before leaving. Toji looked to his side at Hikari, and gave her a charming grin as he stood from his seat.
"So Hikari, would you give me the honor of this dance?" he asked her earnestly, to which she smiled back and stood from her seat.
"Of course." she replied as she got up. Then, Asuka's thought train from before started moving again.
"Hang on a second… Hikari, can I have a word with you first?" Asuka asked bluntly.
"Um… Okay. I'll be right back, Toji." Hikari said as Asuka led her away from the table. Once they were at a reasonable distance, Asuka looked her in the eye as if she was going to start an interrogation.
"Okay, what's going on? Why did you bring us here?" she questioned.
"What? I thought you would like this place." Hikari asked with false disappointment in her voice, and Asuka had to think a moment before speaking again.
"Well, I do. It's really nice, but…"
"But what?"
"I didn't know this was a 'date place'."
Hikari blinked momentarily, but did not loose her composure.
"Well what were you expecting? Some boring place with beige carpets and a bunch of bald business men?"
Asuka didn't really have a response.
"Look, I'm not trying to embarrass you at all. It's not like someone is going to make you dance with Shinji, so just try to enjoy yourself." Hikari said with a hand on Asuka's shoulder.
"Yeah… Sorry if I overreacted. Now you and Toji go and have some fun."
Hikari smiled with a nod, and then went back to Toji who led her down to the dance floor by the arm. Asuka just slumped back into her seat next to Shinji.
"What was that?" Shinji aksed.
"Nothing, I was just clearing something up." Asuka drolly answered.
They sat there for a few minutes just watching the couples dancing, and the few attempts made at a conversation didn't really seem to materialize. Asuka's eyes kept going to Toji and Hikari on the dance floor, and they looked like they were really enjoying themselves—or each other, to be more exact. Asuka couldn't help but feel like her and Shinji were being left out, and was finally unable resist asking the question.
"Do you want to dance?"
"Huh?"
"Baka." Asuka said angrily and turned her face away. Shinji's mind finally went into second gear, and realized what just happened.
"Wait, I do!" he blurted in an attempt at recovery, and then Asuka looked at him again with a pleased smile.
"Great! Let's go!" She said as she grabbed his arm and pulled him towards to dance floor.
When they reached the floor, they joined hands and began moving to the music. However unlike last time they'd danced, Asuka wasn't feeling quite as adventurous, mostly since they weren't surrounded by a bunch of adrenaline-fueled teenagers and loud techno. She chose to keep some distance between them, but it was an enjoyable experience none-the-less, even if it wasn't quite the same as before.
"I really like the music here." Shinji commented, trying to strike up some small talk.
"Yeah, I guess it's okay. I've never been that into classical though." Asuka shrugged in semi-agreement.
"Why is that?"
"I guess I just didn't listen to it much when I was growing up, so I never really acquired a taste for it."
"Well, maybe sometime you should try listening to more? I've got a lot of songs that I think you would like."
"Yeah, maybe… But I don't understand why you don't ditch that crummy tape player and get an iPod or something."
"What's wrong with my SDAT?"
"It's ancient, that's what! For a music buff, you don't seem to care much about sound quality." Asuka scoffed.
"Well then how about this… I'll consider getting a new music player if you agree to listen to some classical music with me, okay?" Shinji grinned.
"Yeah, I guess that's a fair enough deal." Asuka approved.
As Asuka looked around the dance floor, she couldn't help but notice how close everyone looked. They all looked so intimate, and Hikari and Toji looked like they were completely lost in each other's embrace. The most contact Asuka and Shinji had however, aside from their joined hands was Shinji's palm on her shoulder. Asuka sighed a little bit as she looked into Shinji's eyes.
"You know Shinji… We could dance a little closer, if you want—everyone else is." She suggested with a hopeful smile.
"That'd be… Nice." Shinji said as he nervously smiled back. They stepped a little closer to each other as Asuka led Shinji's hand to her back, and Shinji blushed a little when he felt Asuka's bare skin come into contact with his palm and fingers. She slowly led the hand down until Shinji could feel the she curve of her back, when Asuka stopped.
"That's as far as you go tonight." she snickered playfully as she released his hand, then moved hers to Shinji's other shoulder. She leaned in a little more so that the sides of their faces were closer together, and felt pleased with the Shinji's reaction as she could sense him tensing, then relaxing as he adjusted to the close proximity. Soon, they were moving as one, holding each other closely like the other couples did.
Meanwhile, Hikari peeked over at them from over Toji's shoulder, and then smiled as she admired the fruits of her labor.
Dang, I'm good. She thought.
End chapterAuthor's notes:
Again, I'm sorry if this chapter feels a little incomplete, but I didn't feel right releasing a single chapter that was 10,000 words long! Don't worry; chapter 10 will be up as soon as I'm done re-reading and editing it, since the writing is already done for the most part. On the bright side, splitting this chapter ensures that you won't have to wait long for the next one! After the next chapter is up, I'll only have one left to write, and then I'll be calling this a wrap.
Please send your reviews, thanks for reading, and God bless!
